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The British
The British submarine campaign was principally in the
Mediterranean, where they sank many ships supplying Rommel's Afrika Corps.
For a short while they were so successful they stopped supplies by sea
and the Nazis had to supply Rommel with critical supplies by
air. Late in World War II they and some Dutch submarines joined
in the Pacific War, but because they were not air conditioned, many
crewmen became ill with skin and other problems due to the tropical
heat. They did some effective
work in the Pacific. Some British mini submarines slipped into Norwegian
Fjords and Japanese anchorages to damage German and Japanese warships
and most escaped. Other mini subs helped point D-day landing barges to their beaches.
The Germans
German U-boats under Admiral Doenitz attacked
merchant ships to cut off Britain from all supplies. For some months
they were wildly successful, while other months improved allied counter
measures reduced the menace. Late in the Battle of the Atlantic our
anti-submarine weapons became increasingly successful and fewer
U-boats returned from patrols. Special tactics in slowing the U-boats were:
- Doenitz directed his U-boats from shore, and they radioed him. Those radio messages let our navies locate them; later
the British broke the Enigma code so we read orders to U-boats;
- a large area at the center of the Atlantic could not be
covered by aircraft and U-boats sank many, so the U.S. built
some 76 "jeep carriers" from tanker and freighter hulls, so
Navy fighters and bombers could patrol the air
for the entire Atlantic crossing to spot and attack U-boats;
some jeep carriers went to the Pacific to provide air cover for
beachheads;
- the British developed "hedgehog" was smaller than depth charges,
one or more were shot off the sides of escorts, sank faster than depth charges, and exploded only on contact;
- the mass production of destroyer escorts, frigates, freighters and
tankers by American shipyards and recruiting crews to man them despite
dangers from U-boats and the cold north Atlantic. Rescue trawlers attached to convoys rescued survivors of sinkings.
As a result the allies were able to keep supplies moving across
the Atlantic and by special protection and care get all but one American
troopship safely across.
The Japanese
Japanese submariners felt it was honorable only to attack
warships. Before the end of the Battle for Guadalcanal they sank or damaged
a number of American carriers, battleships, and cruisers.
German Admiral Doenitz urged Japanese leaders to attack merchant shipping,
which they did briefly in the Indian Ocean. They failed to organize a
campaign against the "sea train" that supplied American
forces across the Pacific. After the Japanese loss of Guadalcanal in early 1943 increasingly submarines
were diverted from offensive patrols to supply Japanese troops isolated
by our island leap-frogging campaigns. In preparation for a couple
of battles they were ordered into offensive action, but by then our
code breakers were able to pinpoint most, and direct U. S. Navy hunter-killer groups, using skills mastered against U-boats in the Atlantic,
to sink many Japanese submarines.
The American
The U. S. submarine offensive, after serious failures and delays, succeeded
in isolating Japan
from imports while at the same time sinking many warships. Attacks on
merchantmen were frequently postponed until dark when radar enabled surface
attacks with submarines' high speed and maneuverability. In early 1942
Japan had 6 million tons of "marus"; at the end of the war 231 Japanese sea going merchant ships
remained afloat. The last several months of war 9% of oil shipped reached Japan. Unlike the allies in the Battle of the
Atlantic, Japan was slow to build new "marus" and
cheap escort ships to protect them, and their navy was slow to organize
an escort system. Tokyo radioed all ships where they should be at noon each day in a code broken by FRUPac. The "honorable" thing was to build
warships and planes to attack the enemy navy. For example,
much steel and years of manpower were used to build
the super carrier Shinano,
converted from a sister of the battleship Yamato. Shinano was rushed, without
completed water tight integrity, to the Inland Sea for safety from
U.S. bombers. Several hours into that trip she was sunk by U.S.S.
Archer-fish at night using radar.
A detailed comparison of the German and American submarine campaigns and their effects says that "the American Navy won a spectacular victory."
Copyright
© 2006, 2010 John F. Yeaman |
